Shifting from forestry to agriculture: indigenous fruit trees in Cameroon and Nigeria.
Schreckenberg K.
Author Affiliation: Forest Policy and Environment Group, Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD, UK.
Tropical Agriculture Association Newsletter 23 : 6-9
Abstract : Household interviews and fruit tree inventories were conducted in 20 households in a total of 6 communities in Cameroon and Nigeria. Alongside this, the variation existing within the farm and forest populations of Irvingia gabonensis and Dacryodes edulis was characterized and monthly market surveys of the prices and volume of the fruit sold at 11 markets around Cameroon were carried out. Tenure was complex and variable in the study sites but was not a general constraint in tree planting in the communities surveyed. The mean number of fruit trees per farm was 80. Fruit tree density increased as the farm size decreased. The most popular fruit tree species in the communities studied was D. edulis. Also popular were mango, avocado and various citrus species. Half of the 17-28 fruit tree species planted were indigenous. The benefits of the indigenous fruit trees as food and source of income both for the individual farmers and the country are presented. Several factors preventing farmers from maximizing the benefits of fruit tree cultivation are also presented.